Union Pride
Be a Proud Union Member!
Inexpensive shirts, mugs, grocery bags available for purchase
Through MEA’s online merchandise store, you can purchase several items bearing the Proud Union Member logo, including reusable grocery bags ($1), ceramic coffee mugs ($5.75) and short- or long-sleeve t-shirts ($8 - $17.50, depending on size and sleeve choice). These are perfect gifts for proud MEA members in your local – or as a way for you to show your own Union Pride.
Order free materials to help your local members show their Union Pride
A variety of “Proud Union Member” merchandise and materials are available for FREE to MEA locals. Order buttons, stickers and more to help members show their Union Pride to each other and their communities. More materials will be available throughout the school year. Check back here often!
What does UNION mean to you?
Union: The act of uniting two or more things. —Webster’s Dictionary
Such a simple definition for a word that means different things to different people.
What do you think of when you hear the word UNION? Does the word conjure positive or negative feelings ? Do you like being associated with a union? Are you proud of your union membership?
Even if you hold your union in high regard, there are others who question what they get for their dues.
There are probably a few who don’t know that MEA is a labor union, and some who prefer to view the organization as a professional association. The union isn’t the thing, as Webster suggests. It’s a collection of things—in this case, people like you—deἀned as a union when combined with two or more.
You—along with your colleagues and peers at your work site and at hundreds of other public education settings around Michigan—are the union.
The following vignettes tell the union stories of a few proud members. When you’ve finished reading these stories, you’re invited to share yours. Visit MEA’s Facebook page (it’s free and easy) to share your thoughts on unionism—we’d love to hear your story.
Updated: March 10, 2011 1:16 PM
Jan. 8, 1964—
Following less than
eight weeks of
petitioning, 325,764
signatures were
submitted to the
Legislature calling
for a state teacher
tenure law. The law
passed in March,
providing Michigan
teachers, following
their probationary
period, a degree
of job security by
prohibiting discharge
without just cause.
Union members play
an important role in
their communities,
with more than 80
percent of unionized
school employees
in Michigan
regularly spending
time on local
volunteer efforts.
Annually, MEA
members combine
to contribute more
than $77 million to
charity.